Wrong-way drivers are growing trend in Milwaukee County, more drivers are making the wrong turn on the expressway.
Tuesday morning, the results were deadly on the High Rise Bridge. A car slammed into a tractor-trailer near the Marquette interchange. The fire left both the driver and the car unrecognizable.
This week Acting Milwaukee County Sheriff Richard Schmidt called the trend an epidemic.
"That is quite a few. That is a ridiculous amount quite frankly of wrong way drivers," said Schmidt.
He said there have been 125 reported cases of wrong way drivers so far this year. Deputies confirmed 81 of those.
Comparatively:
- In 2016 there were 47.
- In 2015 there were 61.
- In 2014, there were 104.
- In 2013 there were 43.
The majority of wrong-way drivers stopped by sheriff's deputies had drugs or alcohol in their system. Schmidt said the impact of the growing trend of wrong-way drivers leaves witnesses and responders shaken.
"It's a moving catastrophic experience for those who tried to intervene," Schmidt said.
